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Monday, November 15, 2010

Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton

Charlotte (Lucas) Collins is one of my favorite characters from the novel Pride and Prejudice. Charlotte is a plain woman that is considered an “old maid” at age 27. Realizing that she has few options in life, she decides to put reason over love and marries the odious Mr. Collins for financial security.

In the novel Charlotte Collins, Mr. Collins has met with an unfortunate accident and Charlotte finds herself a widow at age 35. She settles down in a small cottage that she rents at a reduced rate from Lady Catherine and enjoys her simple life. Her sister Maria comes to live with her and Charlotte agrees to be her chaperone and to help her find a suitable spouse. Along the way, Charlotte examines her own philosophy about love and marriage and may have a second chance of her own.

I really enjoyed this novel. I have always loved Charlotte and I was glad to see that she finally got to be the star and have a chance to shine in a novel of her own. I obviously love Austen related novels, but the vast majority only deal with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice. I love that Charlotte Collins looks at a different character than Mr. Darcy. In fact, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are mentioned, but only make a slight appearance in this novel.

I love Becton’s style of writing in Charlotte Collins. It suits the period and the story, and often showed the type of lively wit that originally drew me towards Jane Austen’s novels.

Some of my favorite quotes (I must admit, I laughed out loud at both of these quotes.):

“’My independence was hard won.’ Charlotte said, recalling the tediousness of her daily interactions with her husband that had resulted in her current situation. How many ponderous sermons had she been subjected to? How many simpering compliments had she endured? And worse, how many fireplace mantels had she heard him describe in painful detail.”

“Charlotte considered reprimanding her for not showing respect for those higher in society, but she refrained. Lady Catherine was an old bat.”

Overall Charlotte Collins was a unique Austenesque story with great characters and romance.